ROBERT REICH: Here's What Liberals Need To Do To Win In The Long Run

Robert
Reich is one of the nation’s leading experts on work
and the economy, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy
at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of
California at Berkeley. He has served in three national
administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under
President Bill Clinton.

We need to do everything we can to make sure Barack Obama is
reelected president. But we also need to mobilize for the long
haul — beyond Election Day. We need to fuel a movement to take
back our economy and our democracy.

Presidential elections can draw peoples’ attention to larger
challenges facing our nation, but they can also be distracting.
The media focus on the game — who’s up and who’s down, and which
political strategies are winning or losing — rather than on the
big issues. Campaigns are also geared to winning on Election Day,
not to building long-term strategies and movements for
fundamental change.

I’ve been involved in public life, off and on, for over forty
years. I’ve served under three presidents. When not in office
I’ve done my share of organizing and rabble-rousing, along with
teaching, speaking, and writing about what I know and what I
believe. I have never been as concerned as I am now about the
future of our democracy, the corrupting effects of big money in
our politics, the stridency and demagoguery of the regressive
right, and the accumulation of wealth and power at the very top.

We are perilously close to losing an economy and a democracy that
work for everyone, and replacing them with an economy and
government that exist mainly for a few wealthy and powerful
people.

That’s why I’ve written an ebook called “Beyond Outrage.” You
have every reason to be outraged. Moral outrage is the
prerequisite for social change. But you also need to move beyond
outrage and take action. The regressive forces seeking to move
our nation backwards must not be allowed to triumph.

The point of “Beyond Outrage” is to help you focus on what needs
to be done and how you can do it, and to encourage you not to
feel bound by what’s politically possible this year or next. You
need to understand why the stakes are so high, and why your
participation – now and in the future – is so important.

In my experience, nothing good happens in Washington unless good
people outside Washington become mobilized, organized, and
energized to make it happen. Nothing worth changing in America
will actually change unless you and others like you are committed
to achieving that change.